elliot weekly: week 8

elliot is two months old today!
what?!?!
*no picture with con queso :( we went on vacation and he wasn't invited

what we've been up to this week:

elliot is loving her play yard! she's getting more into the mobile parts and swinging her arms around. she's hit the rattle and pig several times, but i'm not totally sure that she know what she's doing. she stares and smiles at the animals; that's got to be a good sign, right?

she's still at champ at riding in her carseat! i've been walking with elliot around town since she was about three weeks old. she loves her walks (or rather, doesn't scream her head off when we go for a walk) and i think that's part of the reason why she does so well in the car. either we picked a comfy carseat or we've just got a chill baby. either way, she's a traveling champ!

check out that smile! she's getting much more social with her smiles.
she'll smile at just about anything and anyone!

she's got some serious monkey toes! elliot's pinky toes stick out and its almost like she's trying to grab stuff with them. apparently, its a fairly common reflex for babies this age. she'll quickly outgrow it, so we're just enjoying it (and laughing about it) while we can :)

she's had her first trip to the beach! we've made our first family trip to the beach! i can't wait to tell y'all some of our adventures, but until next week here's a cute picture of our babe:

relaxing at the beach
this is the life!

whoopie pies

My stepmom brought these up the other day and they are delish! Seriously, don't read any farther unless you are prepared (both for utter delight and added inches to your waistline!)

Fortunately, they're really quick and easy to make; I made these while Elliot was taking a nap this morning. There are tons of different recipes out there, but this one is great:

Whoopie Pies

for cookie:

Pillsbury family size Chocolate Fudge Brownie mix

follow package directions using 3 eggs, plus add 1 1/2 C flour & 2 tsp baking soda

drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on parchment paper spaced 2-3 inches apart

bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees; let cool on wire rack

filling:

2 C marshmallow cream

2 C confectioners sugar

1 stick softened butter

2 tsp vanilla

4 oz cream cheese

mix all ingredients together and beat until fluffy

spread generous amounts of filling between two chocolate cookies

wrap individually & refrigerate

So go make some whoopie, pies that is ;)

elliot weekly: week 7

our happy baby girl!

Elliot was a little travel superstar this week! We went to Charlotte for the day on Tuesday to play with my friend Chelsea. Elliot enjoyed hanging out at Dean and Deluca and shopping at Southpark and Trader Joe's. She's an expert in the car now:

We went back to Charlotte on Friday to hang out with our friend Amy and her daughter Charis. We grabbed lunch (at Sir Ed's, YUM!!) and talked, and talked, and talked.....and had so much fun that we forgot to take any pictures :(

We also watched our friend Ashley play soccer. She plays for the Charlotte Eagles (uhm yeah, she's amazing!) It was Elliot's first soccer game and she loved it. She cheered for Ashley, yelled at the referees and ate pizza (just kidding.)

learning the basics from josh and then yelling at the ref's poor call
(we still think it should have been a goal!)

amazed at Ashley's front-flip-throw-in (or whatever you call it!)

our little soccer fan

sorry it took so long to get this post up! who knew parenting took so much time?!?!

elliot loves to snuggle with con queso :)

making us look good

Just got my photos delivered from Lindsey Lee Photography. They are a-maz-ing. Seriously. We had booked a session just for Elliot, but Josh and I couldn't resist jumping in for a few shots. This family loves a picture opportunity! Lindsey was able to put us at ease, make us laugh, capture our individual personalities and make us all three look pretty dang good.

Now that I'm done crying (because they are so very good!) I needed to share a few with you. We haven't decided which one we're going to use for her birth announcement (ouch, I really need to plan that!) so I'm only going to share a few photos with you. I'll be sure to put up more later; trust me, you'll love them!

i LOVE this one.
my two favorite people!

elliot is getting so big, i'm glad we got pictures now!


this quilt was made by josh's great grandmother
elliot looks too cute in it, right?!


having your picture taken can be tough.

Can't wait to share more pictures with you soon! Go and book your session with Lindsey now!

that sounds familiar...i think

I am currently watching Inside Man. According to Netflix (and Josh) this is the 3rd time I've watched this movie. And I have nearly no recollection of it. As in, the premise of the movie seems vaguely familiar, kind of like trying to remember a dream I maybe had last week. This, unfortunately, is not just limited to movies. I'm reading the Harry Potter series (for the fourth time) and am constantly wondering what is going to happen next.

In the bright side, I'm just as intrigued and amused as the first time I read the book, watched the movie or heard the story. So, if you have a particular joke/story to tell or need to watch a movie for the 15th time call me--I'll be a great audience for you :)

put a ring on it

I just got the coolest ring! Its a sterling silver ring from Chattanooga based jewelry designers McGowan and McClain that I picked up a few weekends ago in Asheville, NC. The texture on the ring is actually from a dried banana peel; so creative! Every piece from these girls is so unique, you've got to check them out. I'm already making my next shopping list and saving my pennies for these beauties:

elliot weekly: week 6

elliot is six weeks old!

Several people have asked me about the monkey in the weekly pictures with Elliot. His name is Con Queso and he was made, by my middle school Wyldlife girls at Build-a-Bear, for Josh when we were dating. My older sister Lauren suggested putting a stuffed animal next to Elliot in her weekly pictures so we'd have something to compare her against as she gets older. It seemed fitting to have Con Queso in the pictures :)

Now, on to what Elliot has been up to this week:

Napping: Elliot is getting better at her day-time naps, or at least that's what I'm trying to convince myself of! She's been a good in-her-crib-sleeping-at-night baby since night one at home (praise Jesus!) However, she seems to prefer napping in her stroller or the car during the day, as opposed to in her crib. We've been trying to convince her that her crib is the best place for all sleep, naps and night-time, but she's not totally on board. When she does nap though, the girl is seriously down for the count. I love waking her up, she is so sweet and has the funniest stretches!

6-Week Check-Up: Elliot had her 6-week check-up on Tuesday and Mark (pediatrician) said she's doing great! She's healthy and gaining weight well. She is now 8 pounds 13.5 ounces and 21 inches long. She did have to get a Hepatitis shot while we were there, which she did not enjoy. I made Josh hold her while she got the shot a) because I couldn't handle it and b) because I didn't want her to associate me with the shot :) We thought Elliot was getting bigger since she was finally filling out her newborn clothes and the 0-3 month clothes weren't totally swallowing her whole.

Elliot all relaxed and stretched out with Josh.

All Smiles: We are getting more smiles from our girl. Mark said that they are more involuntary muscle movement that true social interaction.....but I'm not 100% on board with that. Here's a little tickle session with my friend Allison:

All-in-all, things are going well at our house. I cannot believe Elliot is already 6 weeks old and that I have to go back to work in two weeks. I am going to be taking Elliot with me to work, but it won't be nearly the same. I plan on soaking up every minute with my sweet girl over these next two weeks!

elliot was really turning on the charm for her six-week pictures. here are a few outtakes:

i love the last picture of elliot
i like to think she's practicing her kick-boxing moves

and, as always, i've got to leave you with one cute picture of elliot
oh, we are so in love!

my first mother's day

It seems so surreal that I got to celebrate Mother's Day this year as a mom. Elliot has been with us for over a month now, but it still seems so new. I guess I just am still not used to my new title of "Mom." I mean, I'm still the same person. I still listen to the same music, like the same food and (hope to soon) wear the same clothes as before Elliot was born. So, its not that I'm different, per say, its just that I guess I'm more. I'm more than just Blair, but I'm also still Blair. Its such a weird concept....and most of the time I'm just too sleep deprived to process it :)

Elliot gave me the wonderful Mother's Day gift of sleep! She slept for almost five and half hours on Saturday night. Hallelujah! She also gave me a sweet card (via Josh, of course.)

Our little family went to church and then out for brunch at Ni Fen. It was scrumptious! They had amazing food and even brought back my personal favorite: dessert and pastry table! Y'all have GOT to go to brunch asap.

Josh took a few photos of me and my sweet baby girl. This one is my favorite and I like to pretend we're sharing some girly secret:

me and my sweet elliot
life is sweeter with her!

elliot weekly: week 5

couldn't get baby girl to stop talking long enough to take a picture
guess she takes after mom and dad

what we've been up to this week:

bottles! elliot had her first bottle this week. i'm still breastfeeding, so this was a bottle of expressed milk. it was sweet to watch josh get a chance to feed elliot, although i won't be doing too many bottles---i love my time with her!

first out of town overnight trip! we went to montreat for a few days this week. elliot did awesome! we are so thankful to our friends chuck and laura for letting us borrow their house. it was so nice to get out of town for a bit. and so fun to have our first trip to one of our favorite places. (you should rent chuck and laura's place---its at the top of montreat, only billy graham's house is higher, and it is such a sweet and relaxing place!!)

snuggled up on the porch at montreat

visiting with friends: while in montreat we snuck in some time with our friends sunday and worth (and their two sweet girls bellarose and hollings.) i'm so sad that i don't have any pictures of us with sunday and worth---they're kind of like a super couple: overly talented, too pretty, sweet.....i wish i had a picture to prove it! i guess we were just having too much fun catching up that we didn't stop to take any pictures.

josh playing with bellarose and hollings

elliot with bellarose's doll (affectionately named "Creepy")

taking pictures: we went up to visit our friend lindsey in concord yesterday and get some pictures taken of elliot. i was planning on getting lindsey to take some pictures in the fall when elliot was a little bigger (and i was a little slimmer!) but i just couldn't pass up documenting elliot as a newborn....plus, it was great to spend time with lindsey. i can't wait to see what pictures she got!

so, that's it....another super eventful week at the jones house ;) but, you know i couldn't leave you without another picture (or two!) of my favorite girl:

how is that for making your week?!
i couldn't believe i captured elliot's first real-non-gas-induced smile.
oh dear, i'm so in love!